Hosea 4

1 Hear the LORD’s word, you children of Israel, for the LORD has a charge against the inhabitants of the land: “Indeed there is no truth, nor goodness, nor knowledge of God in the land.

Hear the word of the Lord, ye children of Israel: for the Lord [has] a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land.

2 There is cursing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery; they break boundaries, and bloodshed causes bloodshed.

Cursing, and lying, and murder, and theft, and adultery abound in the land, and they mingle blood with blood.

3 Therefore the land will mourn, and everyone who dwells in it will waste away, with all living things in her, even the animals of the field and the birds of the sky; yes, the fish of the sea also die.

Therefore shall the land mourn, and shall be diminished with all that dwell in it, with the wild beasts of the field, and the reptiles of the earth, and with the birds of the sky, and the fish of the sea shall fail:

4 “Yet let no man bring a charge, neither let any man accuse; for your people are like those who bring charges against a priest.

that neither any one may plead, nor any one reprove [another]; but my people are as a priest spoken against.

5 You will stumble in the day, and the prophet will also stumble with you in the night; and I will destroy your mother.

Therefore they shall fall by day, and the prophet with thee shall fall: I have compared thy mother unto night.

6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you, that you may be no priest to me. Because you have forgotten your God’s law, I will also forget your children.

My people are like as if they had no knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt not minister as priest to me: and [as] thou has forgotten the law of thy God, I also will forget thy children.

7 As they were multiplied, so they sinned against me. I will change their glory into shame.

According to their multitude, so they sinned against me: I will turn their glory into shame.

8 They feed on the sin of my people, and set their heart on their iniquity.

They will devour the sins of my people, and will set their hearts on their iniquities.

9 It will be like people, like priest; and I will punish them for their ways, and will repay them for their deeds.

And the priest shall be as the people: and I will avenge on them their ways, and I will recompense to them their counsels.

10 They will eat, and not have enough. They will play the prostitute, and will not increase; because they have abandoned listening to the LORD.

And they shall eat, and shall not be satisfied: they have gone a-whoring, and shall by no means prosper: because they have left off to take heed to the Lord.

11 Prostitution, wine, and new wine take away understanding.

The heart of my people has gladly engaged in fornication and wine and strong drink.

12 My people consult with their wooden idol, and answer to a stick of wood. Indeed the spirit of prostitution has led them astray, and they have been unfaithful to their God.

They asked counsel by [means of] signs, and they reported answer to them by their staves: they have gone astray in a spirit of whoredom, and gone grievously a-whoring from their God.

13 They sacrifice on the tops of the mountains, and burn incense on the hills, under oaks, poplars, and terebinths, because its shade is good. Therefore your daughters play the prostitute, and your brides commit adultery.

They have sacrificed on the tops of the mountains, and on the hills they have sacrificed under the oak and poplar, and under the shady tree, because the shade was good: therefore your daughters shall go a-whoring, and your daughters-in-law shall commit adultery.

14 I will not punish your daughters when they play the prostitute, nor your brides when they commit adultery; because the men consort with prostitutes, and they sacrifice with the shrine prostitutes; so the people without understanding will come to ruin.

And I will not visit upon your daughters when they shall commit fornication, nor your daughters-in-law when they shall commit adultery: for they themselves mingled themselves with harlots, and sacrificed with polluted ones, and the people that understood not entangled itself with a harlot.

15 “Though you, Israel, play the prostitute, yet do not let Judah offend; and do not come to Gilgal, neither go up to Beth Aven, nor swear, ‘As the LORD lives.’

But thou, O Israel, be not ignorant, and go ye not, [men of] Juda, to Galgala; and go not up to the house of On, and swear not by the living Lord.

16 For Israel has behaved extremely stubbornly, like a stubborn heifer. Then how will the LORD feed them like a lamb in a meadow?

For Israel was maddened like a mad heifer: now the Lord will feed them as a lamb in a wide place.

17 Ephraim is joined to idols. Leave him alone!

Ephraim, joined with idols, has laid stumbling-blocks in his own way.

18 Their drink has become sour. They play the prostitute continually. Her rulers dearly love their shameful way.

He has chosen the Chananites: they have grievously gone a-whoring: they have loved dishonour through her insolence.

19 The wind has wrapped her up in its wings; and they shall be disappointed because of their sacrifices.

Thou art a blast of wind in her wings, and they shall be ashamed because of their altars.